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Johnny's Goatbuilt JHF buggy build

Getting closer to having it tore down.
 

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Bad idea of the day... I have a set of 706 heads on the shelf. I'm preparing to pull the drivetrain today. Currently running a stock LQ4 with stock 317 heads. No cam, nothing other than low profile champ oil pan and dorman LS2 intake for clearance.

So the 706 heads supposedly bump up compression ratio a bit, and give a little more torque below 5000rpm, which is where this motor lives. So do I take an evening and swap on the heads?

Intake is off to remove from chassis, so not a lot more effort.

edit: and I run TerminatorX, so no massive re-tune effort or sending the computer away

 
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I have considered trying to hit the Black Hills over Memorial Day weekend, pending there isn't a drop of rain in the forecast. If so maybe see you there. Buggy is looking good!
 
SteerAndStuff said:
I have considered trying to hit the Black Hills over Memorial Day weekend, pending there isn't a drop of rain in the forecast. If so maybe see you there. Buggy is looking good!
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Sweet. Would love to have a dry week of wheeling.

white-rhino said:
That would be cool Matt. We have 6 rigs going. (including the one in this thread if he gets it back together. :stirthepot:)
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whatever
 
JohnnyJ said:
Bad idea of the day... I have a set of 706 heads on the shelf. I'm preparing to pull the drivetrain today. Currently running a stock LQ4 with stock 317 heads. No cam, nothing other than low profile champ oil pan and dorman LS2 intake for clearance.

So the 706 heads supposedly bump up compression ratio a bit, and give a little more torque below 5000rpm, which is where this motor lives. So do I take an evening and swap on the heads?

Intake is off to remove from chassis, so not a lot more effort.

edit: and I run TerminatorX, so no massive re-tune effort or sending the computer away

Click to expand...


100% yes, put on the 706 heads. 317s suck unless you are boosted.
 
JohnnyJ said:
So the 706 heads supposedly bump up compression ratio a bit, and give a little more torque below 5000rpm, which is where this motor lives. So do I take an evening and swap on the heads?
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110%, do it.
Run 93 in it afterwards.

Im4yotas said:
100% yes, put on the 706 heads. 317s suck unless you are boosted.
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They suck, period.
 
chaplin - the 706 heads work on LQ4 engines because they have dished pistons and around 9.6:1 compression from the factory with 317 heads. The 706 5.3 heads are smaller volume, so they bump an LQ4 up to around 10.5:1 compression. The only downside is the have smaller intake valves than 317 & 243 heads, so they run out of steam somewhere above 5000rpm, which is fine for my use.

I picked up the 706 heads a few years ago after first seeing a Richard Holdener video on the swap and shortly after saw a set with PAC 1218 springs already installed for something like $150. It was cheap enough I just snagged them. No worries on running 93 octane, as I generally run it in the buggy just to be safe. So while I'm poking at the engine, I'm throwing a Truck Norris cam in. So let's see what a cluster I can turn this into. :D
 
Good weekend of progress. We had nice weather on Friday, so I decided to take the day off work. I finished up installing cam and heads. Good weather continued into Saturday, so I prep'd a bunch of brackets and painted them outside.

Today it was rainy, so a perfect day to install exhaust and wiring. I figured it would be easiest to get the exhaust in while the chassis was mostly bare. It mostly worked out, but apparently I lost or threw away one of the v-band clamps. I kinda remember one coming apart as I tore down, so I'll have some extras here tomorrow. While I installed the harness I took the time to loom a few sections I didn't get to when I built it. I also cleaned up a few things in the harness as I put it in.

sunday funday.jpg
 
Last night I realized I made a mistake when I was installing my remote hydroboost mount. I had mocked up the unit on one day and figured out where I could fit it. Then I did some disassembly including removing the tailpipe before making the final mount. I pushed the hydroboost towards passenger side to make brake line plumbing easier, but now the slave cylinder on the remote hydroboost unit crashes into the exhaust tail pipe.

For now I'm going to punt going to remote hydroboost until after I get the rest of the buggy reassembled. I think I can recreate the tail pipe with a quicker turn up coming out of the muffler between the orange lines and it will give me the room I need.

I figure if i get the buggy running and prove the cam and head swap is good, then I can reassess how much time is left before we leave for South Dakota for Memorial Day. The hydroboost will make my brakes better, but I will be ok with where they are. It's mostly wanting to improving holding power on steep inclines or declines.


I
exhaust mod.jpg
 
I got it put back together enough to meet up with a local tuner and put it through its paces. Need to fiddle with idle screw a bit to give IAC some buffer but otherwise good.

Test run showed me a few things I need to work on today. Plan to head back to local park tomorrow and put some more time on it.



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Running Black Hills, South Dakota. I didn’t take much for pics. Panels are showing some loving after running Hal John’s, Kong, and Capn Crunch.

We run T-back and bikini tomorrow and some fill in trails on Thursday before heading home on Friday.
 

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Spark plug wires have been my Achilles heel on this buggy. Stupid headers are tight to plugs and melt plug wires. I had tried ceramic ends but they required loosening the header to install. Also on stripping down for paint 2 fell apart.

I tried a few other things but decided to heat and beat some clearance for the ceramics to come in and out. These are the original set of ceramic wires, the new wires and gaskets should be here today.


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If you're going to use those headers, have them ceramic coated after you have massaged them to make it easier for the plug wires to be installed. This will direct the heat down in the exhaust system better.

I know you're using ceramic boots for your plug wires, but I would also invest in something like this:

www.designengineering.com

EXO Series Protect-A-Boot™ Ringless - 8-Pack

EXO Series Spark Plug Boots are designed to withstand extreme racing and high heat environments. The outer Exoskeleton stainless mesh prevents direct contact with the Dual layer Silica boot underneath.
www.designengineering.com www.designengineering.com

Not only do they protect the boot better, but they also help to protect some of the wire too. If you're burning boot, you'll eventually be burning wires.

But honestly, I would either find headers that give you more room to work with your wires or use standard exhaust manifolds. In either of those cases, I would still have them ceramic coated. It's worth the price just for the heat reduction.

On a final note, I do like your build. Good luck... :beer:
 
i had those spark plug boots and my engine guy said try not to use them. If possible strap them down so they dont touch. if you wrap them with the boot the heat is catchted and there is no airflow
 
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